Gallery expanding Clinton’s reach to Africa

Closed for several months, the new, expanded Gallery of African Art will be open to the public beginning Oct. 29.

Accessible through Sunrise Boutique, 62 High St., the gallery is now four times as large as it was when it opened a year ago.

The gallery was begun by Gordon Lankton, who also founded the nearby Museum of Russian Icons. That gallery grew out of Lankton’s icon collection.

Lankton began his own, personal African art collection after visiting a gallery in western Massachusetts, where one of his daughters lives. He soon amassed a sizeable collection.

That collection, however, was smaller than his collection of Russian icons, which spawned the museum on Union Street. One day, a collector in Kentucky called him about three Russian icons he wanted to sell. During the negotiations, the collector told Lankton about a collection of African art, mostly from the west African tribes of Baule and Dogon.

Lankton purchased those and decided to open a gallery in Clinton, within walking distance from his museum. Originally, he was not looking for a storefront, and contacted Sunrise Boutique owner Cynthia Cannon about connecting through her shop, either upstairs or next door, where the gallery eventually opened. The gallery soon became cramped, as Lankton added more pieces. So the decision was made to expand into most of the former Paper Store location, adding glass shelves that allow many of the pieces to be viewed from 360 degrees.

“I started with the 210 from Stephen (Huble),” Lankton said, and that has expanded to more than 500, with a couple of hundred now on display at any given time.

Where 90 percent of the pieces used to be from the Baule and Dogon tribes, they now come from 30 tribes.

Looking around the newly-renovated gallery on Thursday, Lankton said he was pleased how it came out.

Visiting for the press opening was Sulayman Berete, a native of Guinea, West Africa, who has supplied many of the pieces for the gallery. Berete is one of 28 children (from the same father) and all of them find items and send them to Berete, to sell to galleries and collectors throughout the country, including Lankton’s.

“His collection has very good quality,” Berete said of the Clinton gallery. “I am very proud of what he has put together. Some people have good taste. When they see good quality, a feeling comes over them.”

Most of the pieces in the Clinton gallery are between 60 and 100 years old, with a few older. One in particular, a large power figure by the Songye people, is a favorite of both Lankton and Berete. It is about 85 or 90 years old, Berete said.

Over the years, collectors of African pieces have been looking for different things. About 30 years ago, when many museums started their collections, the pieces were mostly polished. Now, the pieces are in their original state. Not only do they retain their value more, according to Berete, who likened it to a person taking the patina off a piece of antique furniture, but they are the way Lankton prefers his pieces.

Many areas of Africa have experienced internal strife, with some rebels invading villages. As the villagers flee, they leave their belongings, including the ceremonial pieces left by their grandparents, Berete said. These pieces are either destroyed by the invaders, or taken and sold. In other cases, the family sells the pieces belonging to their grandparents to help food on the table.

“They love it (the piece they are selling), but they can’t keep it,” Berete said.

Either way, some items are making it to the market that haven’t in the past. But the pieces are rare, due to the number destroyed, and thus more valuable, Berete said.

In addition to being a dealer, Berete is a collector and finds some pieces, like the power figure, hard to part with.

“Every piece I have, I enjoy it a lot,” he said.

Lankton said many of the school groups that now visit the Museum of Russian Icons have expressed interest in visiting the African gallery, as well. On the way, he hopes they patronize other places in Clinton.

This week, a group of 100 students were at the Museum of Russian Icons, “overwhelming us,” then filled the Old Timer Restaurant before heading out of town. Lankton, a longtime Clinton supporter, hopes there will be more of that.

“Some people said I could only open my museum in New York or Boston,” Lankton said. “I couldn’t open it anywhere but Clinton.”

When the gallery opens Oct. 29, there will be a suggested donation of $5, to help with maintenance and upkeep of the collection.